We are committed to a fair gender portrayal in the news. Based on our commitment to ethical journalism, we fight against discrimination and help support positive quality journalism by publishing reporting guidelines and promoting best practices.

The IFJ’s Gender Council (GC) co-ordinates this work. From the first motion that created the GC and throughout subsequent years, the council’s role has been clearly defined. ‘The GC will be the main voice on gender, and the instrument to guide projects and policy concerning gender and good practice, raise awareness of gender issues, and mainstream gender issues throughout the IFJ, its projects and its member unions...GC recommendations, activities and projects on gender should be included in all Expert Groups, ExCom, Congress and IFJ projects, as well as in the IFJ constitution.’

At the 2016 IFJ Congress held in Angers, the work of the GC was officially enshrined and protected through inclusion in the IFJ Constitution.

Today, the Gender Council is 25 members strong, with activists drawn from every region of the globe. The Steering Committee, elected from among the 25, has members from each region and is responsible for implementing policy and the Council’s Action Plan.

Current major projects, campaigns and actions include: leading the IFJ Campaign for an ILO Convention Against Violence in the World of Work, building toolkits, resources and best practice examples for unions, improving outreach in the regions, working with our NGO and labour partners to strengthen the position of women in the media (including Who Makes the News).

If you are a member of one of our affiliated unions and have a project you would like us to consider or would like to join the work of the Gender Council, please contact us at jeremy.dear(at)ifj(dot)org.

ABOUT IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists is the world's largest organisation of journalists. First established as the Fédération Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ) in 1926 in Paris, it was relaunched as the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) in 1946, but lost its Western members to the Cold War and re-emerged in its present form in 1952 in Brussels. Today the Federation represents around 600.000 members in more than 140 countries across the world. The IFJ promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists.